The sorry state of Britain’s local roads has been found to be the number one gripe among drivers in the RAC Report on Motoring 2015.
One in 10 motorists (10%) said the condition of local roads was their top concern, while a further 20% listed the issue as one of their top four concerns. Half (50%) of the 1,555 motorists surveyed for the report – now in its 27th year – believe the condition of roads in their area has deteriorated in the past 12 months with just 10% claiming it has improved; the remainder reporting no change.
Road conditions are a particularly big worry in Scotland and the South West of England, where one in five (19%) motorists say this is their top concern.
The latter is not surprising given that Devon has the most miles of roads of any county in England and one of the highest maintenance backlogs in the country.
Londoners, however, are more positive: only 30% of motorists in the capital say their roads have deteriorated since 2014. This is half the rate (59%) reported among drivers who live in villages or rural areas.
For the 50% who say roads are worse, the vast majority (99%) attribute this to potholes and general damage to the road surface, although litter is a source of annoyance for a quarter (24%), as is poor maintenance of verges for a fifth (21%).
The problem, however, appears unlikely to be overcome in the foreseeable future – impacting business, the local economy and road users’ lives – as the Government has itself estimated the cost of bringing local roads in England alone back to a state that is fit for purpose to be up to £8.6bn. This is despite only allocating £6bn purely to maintain and improve local roads up until 2021. However, other estimates from the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA)**, put the cost of returning English and Welsh local roads to a ‘reasonable condition’ to be far greater at £12.16bn (England £11.5bn).
Given the level of concern about the condition of local roads, it comes as little surprise that there is widespread support among drivers for government investment in their repair and upkeep. This year’s RAC Report on Motoring found maintenance of local roads to be the number one priority for transport spending with three in every 10 motorists (30%) saying that’s where money needs to be used, while a further 48% cite this as a top five priority. Targeted improvements to local roads, such as those designed to improve safety or reduce bottlenecks, are the number two spending priority (12% of drivers) with a further 54% saying this is one of their top five priorities.
Other parts of the survey suggest with fuel prices falling that motorists are more prone to speed up, that parking facilities are dwindling but costing more while environmental and autonomous vehicles will get little support or take up.
